Buhari’ll do better during 2nd term — Group

A political group, Dr. Hajo Sani Youth Network for Buhari Continuity (DHSYNBC), yesterday, said it believes President Muhammadu Buhari will do better during his second term in office.

The group, in a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Salisu Bala Hassan, and Secretary, Nwafor Odochukwu, said Buhari won because Nigerians trusted him.

The group said the massive support across the nation that the president got during the last election would serve as a morale booster for him to take the country to greater heights.

It, therefore, promised that all its activities would be geared towards supporting Buhari in order to help him kill corruption and deliver good and quality governance.

INEC chairman, Yakubu, says elections are getting better in Nigeria

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, believes that elections are getting better in Nigeria despite some challenges faced by the commission.

The commission has been heavily criticised by several politicians, parties, and voters for its handling of the 2019 elections, with several allegations of bias and misconduct levelled against it.

While representing Yakubu at a forum centred around eradicating electoral corruption with a focus on votebuying, INEC’s Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the commission has made several improvements that have made elections more credible in the country.

Speaking at the event, which took place in Nasarawa on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, he said these improvements have led politicians to become more desperate and device several ways to cheat the system to their own advantage.

He said, “You can see that our elections are getting better and the politicians are getting more desperate. And this accounts for some of the challenges we have.

“It is evident that the innovations and improvements in our electoral processes since 2010 have somehow put a check on ballot box snatching, ballot box stuffing, multiple voting or falsification of results, diversion of election materials, hijack of election personnel, falsification of election results and violations of the electoral laws have become considerably addressed.

“As votes start to count, as the elections are determined solely by the electoral votes, politicians now go directly to the polling units to induce the voters. And I say that the votes are beginning to count.

“Voter inducement before and after voting is manifested in two ways. First is the attempt by politicians and their agents to determine the choice of voters by offering them monetary or material rewards. Second is the attempt by prospective voters to demand such gratification in order to vote.”

Yakubu said the commission is concerned that politicians have turned polling units into market places for buying and selling of votes which he said has become too commonplace in the nation’s electoral system.

He said, “The use of inducement to gather votes is an old and recurring practice across the world. Such inducements which are often deployed to influence voters on how they vote, range from money to material goods and differs from one country to another. Items such as vehicle parts, chairs, wristwatches, textile materials, shirts, buckets, cements, rice, and cooking oil are used for inducement.

“Medications and mobile phones have become ready currencies in the transactional relationships that have developed between the voters and the political class.

“In recent times, the use of money to induce voters or to buy votes especially within the vicinity of polling units has come under intense public scrutiny.

“Agents of political parties now stand at strategic locations around our polling units to see which party a voter has voted for, either directly or through a picture of the marked ballot paper as evidence for payment.

“Here in Nigeria, 69% of respondents acknowledged receiving money or items such as rice, seasoning cubes, shirts, plastic buckets and textile materials in exchange for their votes in two governorship elections in 2014 and 2015.”

To combat votebuying, Yakubu said the commission has adopted measures that include changing and enhancing the secrecy of votes through polling unit management.

“Vote buying and selling is an illegal act. Sponsors of vote buying and selling must be brought to book and not only those that are given instructions to do so,” he said.

He reiterated his call for a national dialogue to be had on various aspects of Nigeria’s electoral process so as to nurture and sustain the nation’s democracy.

Life Lessons From Mudipapa To Launch May 5 As Awhefeada Reviews

Life Lessons from Mudipapa, a book written by Mr. Francis Ewherido, a National Newspaper columnist and Managing Director of Titan Insurance Brokers Limited, will be formally unveiled in Lagos on Sunday, May 5, 2019.

Life Lessons from Mudipapa chronicles the life and times of a fictional character, Chief Julius Mudiaga Orien, Ph.D, a native of Effurun-Otor, Delta State. His childhood dream was to be a Catholic priest, but he chickened out because of the vow of celibacy. He was to find out that married life has its challenges.

Life Lessons from Mudipapa deals with issues of courtship, marriage, family life, parenting, business startups, preparing for retirement and life after retirement, amongst others, presented in a unique and racy manner. It also contains traditional marriage ceremonies among the Urhobo, Itsekiris and Isokos.

In a related development, Professor of English and Literature and Dean, Faculty of Arts, Delta State University, Abraka, Professor Sunny Awhefeada, will be the book reviewer of the book. Awhefeada belongs to the new generation of Nigerian literary scholars. He studied English at the Universities of Benin and Ibadan before settling down as a lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies at the Delta State University, Abraka where he rose through the ranks to become a professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts. Professor Awhefeada is a columnist with the Daily Independent newspaper and he currently edits The Guardian Literary Series.

The event will take place under the distinguished chairmanship of Chief Johnson Modika Barovbe, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Urhobo Social Club, Lagos and Proprietor, Westminster College, Lagos; while the President General of Urhobo Progress Union, Olorogun Moses Taiga, is the Father of the Day. The Acting Rector, Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan, Rev. Fr. Anthony Ewherido, Ph.D., is the chief host. The book presentation will attract prominent Urhobos, including members of Urhobo Social Club, as well as other prominent Nigerians in the Christian Community, media, insurance sector, business community and other areas of national life.

INEC REC, Igini colludes with PDP to flout court orders

***Refuses APC access to election materials

The legal team of the All progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State has accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mr Mike Igini of colluding with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to deny the party access to electoral materials as ordered by the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal.

Chairman of The Election Petition Tribunal, Justice W.O. Akanbi had on April 2 granted the Petitioner and Applicant, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his agents and forensic experts to inspect and copy all electoral materials used for the conduct of the election into Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.

However, we learnt that on the instruction of Igini, Akwa Ibom INEC has consistently flouted the order and has refused the agents of Senator Akpabio and forensic experts access to the election material. INEC has been engaging in a hide-and-seek game.

 A letter from Barrister Patrick Umoh, a lawyer in the legal team of Senator Akpabio to Mr Igini reveals the frustration the team has faced in making INEC to obey the court order and allow them access to inspect the election materials.

“We also wish to inform you that we had earlier reported for the said inspection on Thursday, the 11thday of April, 2019, Friday, 12thApril, 2019 and Monday, 15thApril, 2019, but our efforts to have access to the materials and inspect same did not yield any positive result,” Barrister Umoh said.

It was gathered that the hide-and-seek by Igini may have been to tip off the PDP and give them sufficient time to oppose the move for the inspection of the election materials by forensic experts hired by Senator Akpabio.

In a curious twist however, INEC is said to have colluded with PDP and advised the party to file a motion on April 16thwhich they cited as the reason they couldn’t allow the inspection of the materials as ordered by the court. Analysts believe the hide-and-seek by INEC was to give the PDP enough time to file the motion.

A legal analyst, Comrade Frederick Bassey has argued that it was wrong for INEC to have waited for the PDP to file a motion on April 16 and cite this as the reason it could not obey a lawful order of court given since April 2. In any case, he said a mere filing of motion on notice was not sufficient to displace a subsisting court order which had been served on INEC.

Comrade Bassey accused INEC REC of partisanship and collusion with the PDP. “Before the election when the APC accused Igini of partisanship and bias, I thought it was a case of wolf crying. But by his recent actions to the extent of disobeying court orders confirms the allegation that he may have been compromised,” he said.

Efforts to reach Mr Igini for his reaction proved abortive. At the Commission's office in Uyo, he was said to have travelled to Abuja when our reporter visited. He did not also respond to calls to his number.

Ogun Governor-elect Addresses Transition Committee

Protocols,

I heartily welcome you all to this occasion of the inauguration of the Economic Transition Committee and the Work Groups. This is a major milestone in our commitment to the Building Our Future Together Agenda, the central theme of my campaign manifesto and I sincerely appreciate all of you for hearkening to the call to serve our dear Ogun State by volunteering your time, expertise and experience for this important assignment. Posterity will adequately reward you for this selfless service with a honourable mention.

2. The importance of the task at hand cannot be over-emphasised. You are being called upon to elaborate on the campaign manifesto, identify and distil the pressing needs of the state and our people, recommend specific programmes and policies and develop a measurable and realistic roadmap, including identifying low hanging fruits, for implementation. The Terms of Reference for the Work Groups will be provided to guide the assignment. However, should there be a compelling reason to tweak any of the items, I believe the Secretariat will be favourably disposed to consider such adjustment.

3. I am confident that the main committee and the Work Groups are most suited to deliver the objectives of this assignment, what with an array of leading lights of our State in all fields of endeavour, rich blend of perspectives across professions, political affiliations, gender, demography, among others. While our non-partisan technocrats are expected to bring to bear on the assignment their rich, global and detached “outsider” perspectives, the professionals in politics and other political actors will provide context and knowledge of the environment to develop a Policy Document that is deep in concept, broad in scope, ambitious in vision but takes cognizance of the current realties. Equally important, it will enjoy the ownership and buy-in of the critical stakeholders, an important component of our commitment to inclusive government. In this regard, each work group should identify critical and relevant stakeholders and seek their input, as may be necessary.

4. Our vision is to provide good and focused governance that creates an enabling environment for sustainable economic development of the state that translates to significant improvement in the welfare of our citizens and their individual prosperity. In traversing the length and breadth of the over 16,000 square kilometres of the state during the campaign,  I gained further appreciation of the vast natural resources spread across the state. These natural resources, coupled with the premier status of Ogun State as the intellectual capital of the nation, should make the job easy. The challenge here is to bridge the gap between the potentials and actual performance.

5. There is no gain saying that funding will be a major constraint, hence our recognition of public – private partnership as a veritable tool for funding in a manner that keeps the interest of the state paramount while delivering significant value to all the stakeholders. Therefore, the Work Group on Finance is enjoined to identify creative means of funding to support the realisation of the governance agenda.

6. There are two other issues that I believe are worth emphasising. First, the Transition Committee and the Work Groups are requested to come up with recommendations on Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism that will ensure that agreed initiatives are not only implemented, but there is a framework to track progress and ensure desired outcomes are achieved.  As Larry Bossidy, co-author of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Done, once said, Strategies are intellectually simple; but the implementation is not. On our part,          I want to assure that we are fully committed to this process and that the document that will emerge will not be used to decorate the shelf but will be diligently implemented.

7. The second point I will like to reiterate is that the government is a continuum. Therefore, the next Administration will continue the implementation of the ongoing projects that have a clear line of sight to upliftment of Ogun State and benefits to the people. I am hopeful that the incumbent government will provide to us timeously accurate information on all the ongoing projects in the state and the general state of affairs of our common patrimony.

8. At this juncture, I must acknowledge and appreciate an incredibly large number of people in and outside the state who have expressed a desire to participate in this exercise but cannot be accommodated because of the limited available slots. Your offer to volunteer your service is appreciated and has strengthened our resolve for good governance. I have directed that a database be developed and continually updated on the abundant human resources of Ogun State extraction across the globe for our Administration to tap into from time to time. The consortium of project management service providers and subject matter experts who have come together, at no costs, to provide their much sought-after professional services for this planning process deserves appreciation and commendation, and I so do.

9. Let me conclude by stating that I am conscious of the fact that the expectations from the next Administration under my watch are high and that people have become cynical of government and the political class in general. And the task is not made easier by paucity of funds. Nonetheless, the incoming Administration is determined to make a difference and provide leadership that earns the confidence of the people, a government that has character and can be trusted. We believe the Transition Committee and the Work Groups will make this task lighter with the outcome of your assignment that is expected ahead of 29 May, 2019. This will enable us hit the ground running without any delay.

10.  On this note, it is therefore my pleasure to inaugurate the Economic Transition Committee and the Work Groups to the glory of God and service of Ogun State.

11.  Once again, I thank you all most sincerely and wish you fruitful deliberations. God bless you all. God bless Ogun State. God bless Nigeria.

Igbega Ipinle Ogun, ajose gbogbo wa ni

Prince (Dr) Dapo Abiodun MFR
Governor-Elect of Ogun State, Nigeria
Wednesday, 17th April, 2019.

Lagos: Keeping Humanism Alive By Leo Igwe

A humanist meeting organized on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, happened at a very short notice and brought out the best in Lagos. One of the council members of the Humanist Association of Ghana (HAG) was visiting and the event was to welcome her. So it was planned as a meet-up, an evening get-together. A talk on Pant Money Rituals and Superstition was added to spice the meeting and give attendees a common theme for discussion, something to talk about apart from Jollof rice!

With the combined efforts of the Atheist Society of Nigeria (ASN) and Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN) media teams, the event was announced and circulated online. The online publicity happened few days to the event. On the Facebook pages of the ASN and HAN, the post had a few likes and three to five people confirmed attendance. When contacted, the organisers said that they were expecting about ten persons. Given the short notice, that was a good number for an evening with our humanist friend from Ghana. 

Again it was a working day and then the traffic in Lagos could be challenging. All these would make it difficult for some to attend. 

I can recall one person stating that she could attend if she was able to close early from work and another saying that he would try and beat the traffic by coming early into Lagos Island. 

I traveled to the event from Ibadan and luckily arrived the venue, the national stadium at Onikan, by 5 pm, that was an hour earlier. Not too long after my arrival, the coordinators from the ASN and HAN joined.  Soon few more persons arrived. By the time we started there were about fifteen persons. I overheard some people calling the organisers and indicating that they were on their way. In fact a humanist colleague from Calabar who was in Lagos for another event could not make it to the meeting due to traffic. The talk on Pant Rituals was well received and occasionally people chuckled at the bizarre thoughts and actions of persons who engaged in money rituals. 

The humanist colleague from Ghana spoke on the situation of humanism in her country, the challenges that humanists faced and the progress that they had recorded. Like Nigeria, Ghana is one of the most religious nations in the world and non religious persons are in the minority. There was a very vibrant questions and comment session. In all, there were four main categories of comments. In the first category, we had the first timer comments. Some persons expressed delight in physically meeting for the first time atheists, humanists and freethinkers. In fact one person said that he came purposely to see what atheists looked like and to know what atheists do whenever they meet. 

In the second category, there were comments that the humanist/atheist movement was not active enough given the religious devastation of the society. One person was visibly frustrated at the slow pace of action and intervention by humanists. He suggested that the humanists and atheists should stage a campaign to counter religious indoctrination in the society. In fact, he noted that the situation had reached a point that he would like to be handing out flyers on the streets with bold inscriptions such as: JESUS IS NOT COMING SOON. There were further suggestions to counter religious indoctrination in families, in schools, and to explore ways of undoing the damage that had been done by the local movie industry, the Nollywood. 

In the third category of comments, people urged caution in challenging religious brainwashing in the society and in the promotion of critical thinking. One of the participants urged that children be exposed to all the options – religious and non religious- while growing up. Another attendee pointed out that promoting critical thinking would be difficult especially in many parts of Northern Nigeria where, according to her, people were not encouraged to think. Others drew attention to the risks and challenges that could go with campaigns to promote critical thinking and secular values including the risks of ostracisation, persecution and loss of jobs and businesses.

In the fourth category were suggestions and propositions on what could be done to address the challenges including the involvement of humanists in humanitarian and emergency services in the country. One participant said that humanist volunteers should have been on ground when the building collapsed in Lagos and suggested that atheists and humanists in the state should be meeting more often. In the same vein, a participant announced another meeting to further explore strategies of strengthening organized humanism in Lagos. 

At the end of the event, the number of attendees far exceeded the expectation. The organisers said 27 people were at the meeting. In fact as we were leaving the venue, somebody arrived for the event. He said he was delayed by the traffic. With a population of over 6 million persons drawn from different parts of the country, there are huge prospects and possibilities for humanism in Lagos. The nation’s former capital is keeping humanist hopes alive.

Sokoto university matriculates 2,074 students for 2018/2019 academic session

The Sokoto State University has matriculated 2,074 newly admitted students for 2018/2019 academic session.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Ptofessor Sani Dangoggo, said 13,000 applied for admission into the university but only 2,074 were admitted.

He urged the students to imbibe good character in their academic pursuit and added that the institution was known for its uncompromising attitude and sustained policy of zero tolerance to indiscipline, cultism and examination malpractice.

“The university will not condone actions which contravene its regulations or behaviours that will portray the image of the university in a bad light,” he said.

The VC added:“I urge the matriculating students, to take their studies seriously to enable them graduate in flying colours and impact meaningfully in the society.”

He advised the matriculating students to engage in sports.

According to him, the university had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with various institutions in the areas of staff development and students exchange.

He said the institutions includes Zinder University Niger Republic, Islamic University of Uganda, University of Lahore Pakistan and Kampala International University Uganda.

The Vice Chancellor added that 18 programmes had been accreditated by National Universirties Commission while other five have partial accreditation.

The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, commended the institution for its progress and enjoined students to concentrate on their students to be productive in the society.